CAN AI KEEP COPD PATIENTS OUT OF HOSPITAL? NORTH WEST LONDON BEGINS SIX-MONTH NHS TEST

COPD patients across six North West London primary care networks are being offered daily AI-powered support between appointments, in a six-month NHS programme testing whether technology can improve self-management, identify deterioration earlier and give clinicians a clearer picture of patients’ health at home.

For someone living with a long-term respiratory condition, some of the most important decisions about their health happen nowhere near a hospital or GP surgery.

Did they take their medication? Is their breathlessness getting worse? Have their symptoms changed sufficiently to warrant intervention?

A six-month programme beginning in North West London this month will test whether artificial intelligence can help patients answer those questions — while giving healthcare professionals greater visibility of what is happening between appointments.

Aide Health’s app is being introduced across six primary care networks (PCNs), representing the company’s largest NHS deployment to date.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be able to use the technology for medication reminders, symptom monitoring and information about managing their condition.

Clinical teams, meanwhile, will have access to information intended to help identify patients who may require additional support.

SIX LONDON PRIMARY CARE NETWORKS

The programme covers Celandine Health and MetroCare PCN, North Connect PCN, NeoHealth PCN, Regent Health PCN, St John’s Wood and Maida Vale PCN and Westminster Living Well PCN.

It is funded by NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board through the national Respiratory Pathway Transformation Fund, with support from Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), the Health Innovation Network for North West London.

Patients will be invited to participate through their GP practice.

The technology will support them before and after COPD OPTIMISE reviews, during which primary care teams assess patients’ conditions, medication and care requirements.

Hannah Fontana, Associate Director of Strategy and Insights at ICHP, said the programme would examine how technology could complement rather than replace existing primary care.

“Supporting people with COPD to manage their condition confidently between appointments is an important part of improving respiratory care and helping to prevent avoidable deterioration,” she said.

“This programme will explore how technology can complement the work of primary care teams, reinforce the advice given during COPD reviews and provide clinicians with greater insight into patients’ symptoms and medication use. It will also help us better understand how digital self-management support can be delivered effectively on a larger scale.”

WHAT THE AI ACTUALLY DOES

Once enrolled, patients use Aide to have short AI-powered conversations intended to support their care between clinical appointments.

The platform can remind patients about medication and collect information about their symptoms and engagement.

Practices can view information including medication use and missed doses alongside MRC Dyspnoea scale and COPD Assessment Test scores. Information can be viewed at individual-patient and population level.

The proposition is not to allow AI to replace clinical decision-making but to create a more continuous flow of information between patients and healthcare teams.

Dr Samantha Kon, Consultant Chest Physician and Director of Research and Innovation at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the pilot would test that relationship.

“This exciting pilot in North West London explores how digital tools can further integrate COPD care,” she said.

“We will evaluate how patient-facing AI technology can empower patients to self-manage their COPD, while giving clinical teams valuable insights to deliver proactive care.”

CAN AI SPOT TROUBLE EARLIER?

That question matters because COPD can deteriorate between scheduled appointments.

Ian Wharton, Founder and CEO of Aide Health, said the company believes earlier recognition of exacerbations could help address some of the pressure associated with emergency care.

“COPD remains one of the most common causes of emergency admission in England,” Wharton said. “Much of that demand comes from exacerbations that could have been caught earlier.”

“We’re excited to be working with ICHP and primary care networks across West and North London to demonstrate how safe, patient-facing AI can strengthen COPD care on a larger scale.”

The six-month rollout should provide an opportunity to test that proposition in everyday NHS care rather than simply in a technology demonstration.

WILL OLDER PATIENTS ACTUALLY USE IT?

Another important question surrounding digital healthcare is whether the patients who could potentially benefit most will consistently use the technology.

Aide Health says its existing COPD users have an average age of 70 and take an average of 6.5 different medicines.

The company reports average medication adherence of more than 70% across existing deployments and says patients have continued using the app daily for periods approaching four years.

Those figures are company-supplied and should not be interpreted as evidence that the North West London programme will produce the same outcomes.

Aide also estimates that its technology can save more than 300 hours of clinical time annually for every 1,000 respiratory patients supported — another claim the London deployment could help test at greater scale.

FROM PILOT TO SCALE?

Aide Health launched in 2021 and says its technology is available to more than 250,000 patients across NHS England, supporting nine chronic conditions. Its COPD service is already being used in Cheshire and Suffolk.

North West London represents its largest NHS deployment so far.

That makes the six-month programme about more than whether patients like an app.

It will provide evidence about whether patient-facing AI can fit into existing clinical workflows, support older people managing multiple medications, give healthcare professionals useful information and potentially enable earlier intervention.

For the NHS, those questions are increasingly important as artificial intelligence moves from experimental projects into frontline healthcare.

The real measure of success will not be how sophisticated the technology appears.

It will be whether AI can help patients manage their condition at home — and help clinicians recognise when somebody needs human care before their condition becomes an emergency.

THE NORTH WEST LONDON AI PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE

• Six months — duration of the programme
• Six primary care networks participating
• Largest NHS deployment for Aide Health to date
• 250,000+ patients have access to Aide across NHS England, according to the company
• Nine chronic conditions currently supported
• Average age of 70 among existing Aide COPD users
• 6.5 medicines taken on average by those users
• 70%+ medication adherence reported from existing deployments
• 300+ clinical hours per 1,000 respiratory patients annually — Aide Health’s estimated potential time saving.